Diamonds in the Sky
Ruby patted down the earth in front of her, then carefully replaced all the tributes and effigies in front of the altar. No one could ever know what happened here. Her mother would be livid if she found out. Once everything was back in its place, Ruby sat on her knees and wondered if her endeavour would work.
Just then, she heard someone approaching. She glanced up to see her brother Ivan emerge from the trees. When he saw Ruby on her knees, he grinned.
“Praying hard?” He asked. Ruby’s newfound piety was an endless source of amusement for Ivan.
With an enigmatic smile, Ruby got to her feet. “Someone has to pray for your soul, right?”
“My soul?” Ivan let out a harsh laugh. “It’s not my soul that needs saving. Maybe you should direct some of your prayers toward our new king. Before he kills us all.”
“Prayer and vengeance are not the same thing.” Ruby brushed dirt from her dress.
Ivan shook his head. “No, dear sister, they certainly aren’t.” He held out his hand. “Come on. Mother sent me to fetch you. Dinner is ready.”
Together, the siblings walked back to their house, both trying to avert their gazes from the burned land to the south. To the north, the Black Castle loomed over the valley. Ever since the new king had murdered his cousin and stolen the crown, the castle seemed even darker and more sinister. Knowing there were hundreds of so-called traitors’ heads lining the castle walls might have something to do with that, Ruby thought. Knowing one of those heads belonged to her father made her blood boil.
The usurper had spies everywhere, so Ruby lowered her eyes and willed her anger to subside. She wanted to live to see tomorrow.
As they entered their house, the scent of stew warmed Ruby’s heart and elicited grumbles of longing from her stomach. She and Ivan sat at the table and tried to talk about safe things, like the weather and how well things were growing in the garden. After dinner, their mother sat by the fire and drank spiced mead until the despair receded from her eyes while Ruby and Ivan sat at the table and played cards.
Once their mother was asleep, Ivan talked about his plans for revenge, which were rife with fury and fantasy.
“If only there were dragons—or a powerful wizard, or an undead army—that would fight with us. We could destroy the usurper in an instant and make things right again.”
“Tell me again about the dragons,” Ruby said.
Ivan smiled. “They are huge, with wingspans that can block out the sun, and black scales that gleam like polished armor. Their eyes are the colour of fire and their hearts are made of molten lava, which runs in their veins and allows them to breathe out flames at will.” Ivan’s eyes sparkled like black diamonds as he continued. “They are so beautiful and so terrifying, you would be mesmerized if you laid eyes on them. And they are smart too.”
“Can they really smell evil?” Ruby asked. Her eyes were starting to droop, but still she hung on Ivan’s every word.
“Not only can they smell it, but they are also drawn to it. Their purpose is to destroy evil and restore balance to the world.”
“Then why did they leave?” Ruby asked, as she always did.
Ivan smiled again, only this time his eyes looked sad. “People stopped believing in them.”
Ruby stood up and walked over to her brother. “Not everyone,” she said. Then she kissed his cheek and made her way to her bedroom.
Her dreams were full of molten eyes and shimmering obsidian scales.
She awakened just as dawn stretched its fingers up into the sky. At first, Ruby thought she was hearing echoes from her dreams, but the sound came again. Quickly, she pulled on her clothes and ran outside.
Ivan was already there, standing on the hill, watching the sky.
Twenty dragons, maybe more, circled the castle. Occasionally, their scales caught the light from the rising sun, making them sparkle like magnificent gems in the sky. They called to each other, and as one, they began to breathe fire over the usurper’s lair.
Ivan turned to look at Ruby, his eyes bright with fear and awe. “What did you do?”
Ruby smiled. “I prayed for vengeance.”
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This is my submission for this week’s Speakeasy writing challenge, in which we had to write a piece of fiction or poetry (up to 750 words), that included the following line: “No one could ever know what happened here” and also made some sort of reference to the song Counting Stars, by OneRepublic.
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Image credit: Google images
I loved your story.
Thank you so much, Ranu! 🙂
Damn, you’re good!
Aw, thanks Stacie! 🙂
This is really great, Suzanne. I was completely swept up by your imagery, and I loved how you ended it with Ruby’s prayers being answered.
“Her dreams were full of molten eyes and shimmering obsidian scales.” Very nice.
Aw, thank you so much, Valerie! 🙂
Dang, I wish I could write fantasy. I agree with Valerie, the obsidian line was excellent.
Thanks Chris! Maybe you should give fantasy a try sometime – you might surprise yourself. 🙂
I felt like I was there in the story with you… I could see everything, Ivan and Ruby…
Thanks for sharing
Aw, thank you for the great compliment, Nabanita! 🙂
What can I say Suzanne,except reiterating that I wish I could write like you! As soon as the story starts,one starts wondering what Ruby had been doing and only in the end ,do we get an idea.Loved the vivid descriptions and was floored by the element of magic and fantasy!The following phrases and sentence really stood out for me apart from what Val has already mentioned above:-)
“Knowing there were hundreds of so-called traitors’ heads lining the castle walls”-shiver!
“..elicited grumbles of longing from her stomach.” Tee!hee!
“She awakened just as dawn stretched its fingers up into the sky.”Fantastic!.
Atreyee, you are so sweet! I’m so glad you enjoy my writing – there’s no better gift than that. Thank you for your great comment! 🙂
😀 It is always a pleasure Suzanne-am learning so much from fine writers like you
Dragons always make a story better. Yours were superb. 🙂
They really do, don’t they? And thank you very much! 🙂
P.S. You should try the speakeasy some time. We’d love to have you.
I just might. 😀
Ah, death to evil – that’s a happy ending for sure! You captured my interest and curiosity from the beginning, and the ending with her admission of prayer for vengeance tied everything together nicely.
Thanks Janna! I’m glad the ending tied it together. I could have written more, but I was running out of words. 🙂
Thanks for share!
Thank you for reading! 🙂
I wrote about dragons too, although yours are definitely much cooler. I could totally picture it set in a land like Westerns. If this was a full length novel, I’d get the book and start reading.
Aw, thank you for your great comment, Kynna! I can’t wait to read your submission! 🙂
This was a cool read! Really liked your story.
Thanks you so much, Kathy! I’m really glad you liked it. 🙂
as always, incredible storytelling.
Thank you so much, Christina! 🙂
Oooh I loved it so much, it gave me chills! Wonderful storytelling!
That’s wonderful! Thank you! 🙂
Love this tale of fantasy and this magical world that you create.
Thanks so much, Zainab! I’m really glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Great write…and that my girl is what I call the power of prayer 😉
You said it! Thanks Bastet! 🙂
🙂
I loved your story, I really liked that you gave the dragons purpose instead of making them monsters that just want to destroy everything. Great job.
Thanks Mandy! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
So many lovely words in this. I liked the mixture of despair with hopefulness and how you alluded to the song but wrote something completely unrelated.
Thank you, Christi! 🙂
Beautiful window into the powers that be…good, evil, prayer, hope…loved it.
Aw, thanks so much Peggy! 🙂
Great use of the prompt, and some lovely descriptions – you lit the story right up 🙂
Thank you for your great comment! 🙂
You should definitely write more, that was fantastic! The characters are really well-developed for such a limited word count. And I loved this line: “She awakened just as dawn stretched its fingers up into the sky.”
Aw, thanks Silverleaf! I think I will file this story in my “to be developed” folder. 🙂
And just as he laughs at her, she shows him the power of prayer.
She sure does. 🙂
So awesome. I love dragon stories, especially ones told this well. Whatever she was patting into the earth, it was powerful enough to bring the dragons back. I enjoyed this from beginning to end!
Aw, thank you so much, Eric! 🙂
Oh wow, Suzanne! I personally love anything to do with dragons, so this was a great story to start off with. I love what you did here, dragons the saviours and a God that delivers on prayers of vengeance.
Thank you so much, Yeshu! I’m really glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
great story – great imagery – great
Thank you very much! 🙂